Investigation of the Hsf Transcription Factor and the Expression Analyses in Passion Fruit (Passiflora Edulis)

Abiotic stress is the focus of research on passion fruit characters because of its damage to industry. Transcription factors (TFs) can act an anti-abiotic stress role through diverse biological processes, and heat shock transcription factor (HSF) play a crucial role in abiotic and biotic stress response and conferring stress tolerance. However, to date, no systemic analysis of the passion fruit HSF (PeHSF) family has yet been reported. In this study, a total of 15 PeHSF family members were identified using high-quality passion fruit genomes. The bioinformatics and transcriptome sequencing were used to identify the PeHSF genes in passion fruit whole genome data. The transcriptome sequencing results showed that at different ripening stages of passion fruit pulp, the expression level of most PeHSFs in the 7th day before fruit harvest (Time1) and the harvest period (Time2), was higher than that in the 7th day after fruit harvest (Time3). Also the PeHSFs could respond to different abiotic stresses. Further PeHSF-2 was selected and transformed into INVSc1 Strain (Saccharomyces cerevisiae), and the results showed that PeHSF-2 could significantly respond to drought, salt, cold and high temperature stresses. This study provides a basis for further understanding of PeHSF gene regulation during under the abiotic stress.